Iran News Agency Mehr's coverage of a public hanging. Photo: Amin Rahmani / Mehr.

British aid has assisted the brutal execution of nearly 3,000 people accused of drug smuggling in Iran, according to a report to be released this week. The campaign group Reprieve says millions of pounds from British taxpayers can be linked to ‘control’ operations and hangings carried out by the hard-line Islamic regime.

Those killed – often in public, suspended from cranes after forced confessions, torture and secret trials – include women, children and political dissidents. Human rights groups say the deaths are designed to spread fear rather than curb the drug trade.

Read full story at the Daily Mail.